


Fate of Fire

by LiamDraconis



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: I wrote this on my phone during American history, Idk why I’m posting this tbh?, M/M, OC, cut me some slack, i was gonna write a sex scene but then this happened, im not great at writing I’m really rusty, mentions of the apprentices death, spoilers for the arcana, this happens during the tower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 21:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17670590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiamDraconis/pseuds/LiamDraconis
Summary: This is just a scene during The Tower, the choice of: “I bet we could get in all sorts of mischief together. Or maybe all kinds of...fun? Why don’t you show me.” This was going to be smut because I can’t afford the coins, so I was just going to write the scene myself, but it turned into angst because that’s what felt natural for my apprentice. (Aiden, he/him).





	Fate of Fire

Oh god his eyes. The way he drank in the sight of me like he was addicted, the way his gaze roamed my body, waiting for me to respond. When I sat across from him on the stone tower floor, when I drew the magic circle and had his rough hands in mine, I didn’t think his magic would erupt so quickly. But the way his eyes glazed over, the passion I felt when his blood boiled at the thought of Lucio, it was enough for a fire brighter than any ive ever seen. 

At least that I remember. I can only imagine how bright the fires that ended my life were before me...  
...Dammit.   
Shaking the thought away, I hurriedly presses my lips to his. I don’t want to think about this. Julian is with me now, I’m not alone. Im not waiting for my death to inevitably come. But then I think about the way I saw my body dissolve into nothing, and I can’t help but shudder.   
Julian must have sensed my hesitation, because he softly pulls away, his face flushed and his breath labored despite his now fiery look replaced with worry. God. One of his hands leaves my face and trails down to my arm to my hand, gripping it tenderly. “Aiden?” He searches my face, as if he’s making sure I’m still with him. I can see wheels turning.   
“What’s wrong?”  
I don’t want him to worry, there’s nothing he can do about this. I don’t even remember that much about my... my death. I don’t want to. I don’t want to think about this, but I can’t help it. It’s been biting my heels ever since I found out, just waiting for me to relax so it can eat me alive.   
“It’s nothing.” One of my arms snake around his neck, my fingers burying themselves in his red hair. “I’m fine.” I kiss him again slowly, and Julian sags under my touch, but eventually steels his resolve. “Aiden...”   
“It’s really nothing, I’m just...” No words come to mind to explain what I’m feeling. No excuse fits.   
“Tired.”  
Julian’s gaze softens even more, if that’s even possible.   
“Ha... I know. Me too.” He pauses and sighs heavily.  
“Come on, we’ll find a way to stop this, and-“  
He starts to detach himself from me and my body instinctively pulls him back down, not wanting him to leave. “No, wait I-“ Even my voice betrays me. “I...” There’s that face of worry again, mixed with shock and fretfulness, penetrating my defenses. I can’t continue on like this, lost in my thoughts like I’m in the palace maze. Every time I’m with Julian, I forget everything, I’m back to being Aiden, Asra’s apprentice instead of Aiden, the boy that died from the plague. I don’t have to think with him. I can just... exist in his arms. I didn’t even realize how tight my grip was in his shoulders until I hear the scratch of fabric against my nails. I’ve never been this weak before.   
“Aiden, what is it?” His hands find my waist again and despite myself, I bristle at the touch. I don’t want him to know what I’m thinking. I don’t want anyone to know. My hands shake as I tentatively remove my hands from his shoulders. “...sorry I don’t know what... what I’m doing right now.” I wasn’t lying. I have no idea why I’m acting like this. Julian reaches to hold me, but stops himself before he gets there, probably because of the way I tensed at his touch before. “Did I do something?”  
“What? No, no it’s not you it’s...” I wrap my arms around myself. It’s gotten colder without Julian’s enveloping warmth. The iciness of the towers stone suddenly sinks into my skin more than before.   
I can’t force myself to look up at him, but I can feel his gaze burrowing into my skull, like he’s digging through my brain to find what’s wrong.   
“Please talk to me Aiden.”  
That pulls my gaze up slightly higher, stopping at his collar bone. His collar is slightly disheveled because of our kiss, his chest expanding with breath providing a rhythm for me to focus on.   
A rhythm. I’ve always been the person that lives without need of a plan, who can go along with anything live throws at me. Asra always told me that I put myself into dangerous situations incessantly, that i wasn’t wary of the value my life had. If i had known what he was talking about...  
“I got myself killed.”  
The thought leaves my lips without my consent, and I tense at the sound of my own voice.   
“What? What do you mean you got yourself...” Julian breaks his sentence, and once again I can hear wheels turn.   
“It’s not your fault the plague found you, if anything it’s mine-“   
“No, Julian stop, it’s not your fault. I didn’t die because of you-“  
“But you did! I wasn’t there for you, I wasn’t there when you needed me, and I didn’t listen, I was too obsessed with-“  
“With stopping the plague! You had a job that the entire city depended on, you couldn’t stop working just to look after one apprentice!”  
“You’re more than just an apprentice Aiden!”  
“That doesnt-“ I stop to catch my breath, and look up to finally face him.   
“That doesn’t matter Julian, I still didn’t die because of you. And you... you ended the plague. You did that, Julian....”  
There’s a long pause between us, only my slightly labored breath to fill it. My head begins to pound.   
“You were what spurred me to do it.”  
I avoid his eyes and stare at his forehead instead.   
“To make the deal, I mean, I... you were gone because of me-“ he sighs.  
“Because of the plague. You were gone and I was no closer to curing the city. You were the last straw. If a plague can take someone as important and amazing as you than it had to stop. It had to. No matter what .”  
I shift my gaze to his red sclera, crimson with the mark of the plague, then to his neck, where his mark used to reside. All remnants of what my death did to him.   
I look down again to floor, and hide my face in my hands. My head throbs against my palms.  
“What if I really am dead and this is all just some sick nightmare. Some test. Some kind of limbo.” I can hear the rustling of fabric in front of me, moving closer to me.   
“What if I wasn’t supposed to live. Maybe that’s why the plague coming back, because Asra gave me my life back. Maybe that’s the price of fucking with fate-“  
I’m stopped short of my rambling by Julian, pulling me onto him, my head against his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, and it thrums through my being.   
“You’re fated so much more than death.”  
My breath is shaky. My entire body is trembling. But Julian holds me against him like I might slip away at any moment. His chest muffles my sobs, and I cry for the first time since I was revived, in his arms.


End file.
